Courts and Law Bedford-Stuyvesant

Brooklyn man gets 15 years for 2005 ‘cold case’ killing

October 9, 2020 Editorial Staff
The King's County Supreme Court. Photos: Rob Abruzzese/Brooklyn Eagle
Share this:

A Bedford-Stuyvesant man was sentenced last week to 15 years in prison for the 2005 shooting death of his 22-year-old girlfriend, Desiree Cofield, who was shot in the head in the apartment that the couple shared.

The defendant was arrested following a lengthy and thorough reinvestigation of the case.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said, “Today’s sentence brings the defendant to justice for taking the life of a young mother of two children. Her life mattered. My Cold Case Unit works hard to bring a measure of closure to families such as the one in this case, who deserve to know what happened to their loved ones and that their killers are held responsible. I am committed to pursuing these cases.”

Subscribe to our newsletters

The District Attorney identified the defendant as Julius Esquilin, 38, of Bedford-Stuyvesant. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison and five years’ supervised release by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun. He pleaded guilty on Feb. 10, 2020 to first-degree manslaughter.

According to the investigation, on Feb. 19, 2005, at about 1 a.m., the defendant and his girlfriend, Desiree Cofield, 22, had a dispute outside their building at 642 Greene Ave. in Bedford-Stuyvesant, which continued inside their apartment on the top floor.

A neighbor heard an argument, followed by a single gunshot and saw a blue light flash. The neighbor then heard the deceased’s daughter saying, “Mommy, Mommy,” according to the investigation.

A neighbor called 911 after Esquilin banged on the door yelling, “I know you heard that; call the police.” The defendant also called 911 and, when police and EMTs arrived, acted aggressively.

Esquilin screamed, broke picture frames and jumped on the victim’s body, according to the investigation. The police discovered the victim on a couch with a single gunshot wound to the head. Her 3-year-old daughter and 4-year-old nephew were awake in the bedroom. The victim and the defendant also had a 2-month-old daughter together, who was not present when police arrived.

Police recovered a .380 caliber shell casing, a matching live round and a note signed by the defendant that said, “Even if I am gone, I still love all of my daughters and my big mouth baby mother, Julius.” No gun was recovered.

The defendant had a history of abusing the victim, according to neighbors, the victim’s relatives and prior police reports.

The case was investigated by New York City Police Detective William Simon of the NYPD’s Cold Case Squad, under the supervision of Lieutenant Dennis Klein. It was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Samantha Magnani, chief of the Construction Crimes and Labor Fraud Unit of the District Attorney’s Investigations Division, and Senior Assistant District Attorney Nicholas Batsidis, of the District Attorney’s Asset Forfeiture and Crimes Against Revenue Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Rachel Singer, chief of the District Attorney’s Forensic Science and Cold Case Unit.


Leave a Comment

Related Articles

Leave a Comment

3 Comments

  2. alex m

    With this much initial evidence the DA could only get 15 years? WTH??? Watch out Brooklyn, this is what your life is worth. Were these goons using this case to build overtime? And then they could only get a 15 years sentence. Someone needs to be investigating the Kings Cty DAs office.

    PS, What happened to Black lives matter. Apparently, not hers.

    December 17, 2021 at 6:55 pm
    Reply
  3. Jojobaby4evr

    It’s always a source of fascination, when a baby momma, or spouse is murdered, or assaulted, it’s their partner that is the perpetrator. Says a lot about love and relationships.

    January 18, 2022 at 11:07 am
    Reply